THE LEDGE

By Christian White

⭐⭐⭐⭐ ¼ (Goodreads: 4.15)

GENRE: Psychological Thriller

PART OF A SERIES? No

WORTH READING? Yes

SUMMARY:

The Ledge is a psychological thriller that weaves together two timelines to explore the lasting impact of childhood friendships and buried secrets. The story begins when human remains are discovered in a forest. The locals are shocked; none more so than one group of old friends who panic as the secret they’ve kept for over 20 years threatens to be uncovered. Now they will be forced to reunite and confront what happened all those years ago, the event that changed the trajectories of their lives.

Opening lines: “The headline — HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN WEST HAVEN — grabbed me by the throat and squeezed.”

In The Ledge, Christian White uses a dual timeline to tell the reader what things were like in the 90s for Justin and his friends… versus how they have drifted apart now and are each trying to come to terms with human remains being found.

I like how the young Justin character experiments with words, but in a way that seems endearing. This also foreshadows that he will go on to be an author. E.g. he questions whether ‘opaque’ would be the best word to describe something, and wonders whether ‘transitional’ is a real word.

White addresses the elephant in the room, from the recent timeline in The Ledge… that of the COVID-19 pandemic. He doesn’t discuss it with any great depth but pops little things in like one of the minor characters being a conspiracy theorist, and someone standing behind pandemic plastic protection at a counter. I’ve always found it interesting which authors or film/TV writers address the pandemic and which act as if it never existed.

Christian White handles humour adeptly, peppering his stories with little nuggets of humour. One example from The Ledge is when a character is ‘machine-gunned with bird shit.’

White manages to bring the literal edge at the centre of his novel to life. He illustrates his scenes with dexterity, making the reader feel immersed in both the town of West Haven (then and now) and the surroundings of the ledge itself. It was hard not to think of the classic Stand by Me (movie and short story) whilst reading The Ledge.

I should’ve realised from reading other Christian White stories that there would be multiple twists, and that I shouldn’t become too comfortable with what I believed the facts to be… because, as we are drawn to the climactic ledge, White managed to get me with twists again!

I have enjoyed all the Christian White stories I’ve read. The Ledge was another White novel that certainly did not disappoint.

Click here to purchase The Ledge 

To explore more of Christian White's writing:

Click here to purchase The Nowhere Child 

Click here to purchase The Wife and the Widow 

Click here to purchase Second Skin 

Click here to purchase Still House 

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